Got my Game Informer mag yesterday. In celebration of their 200th issue, they put together their list of the 200 greatest video games of all time. Here are the top 20 and my commentary. Those in bold are the ones that I have played:

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Game

Comments

1

The Legend of Zelda

Agreed! Sometimes I still think I AM Link!

2

Super Mario Bros.

Another great classic! No surprise that Nintendo takes #1 & #2

3

Tetris

The first addicting puzzle game; the wife loved this before she got addicted to Zuma

4

GTA III

Never played it, not my thing

5

Half-Life 2

This came out before I got into FPS, may have to go back and try it out

6

Doom

Probably the game that turned me off of FPS in the beginning

7

Metroid

I wish I could curl my body into a little ball

8

Final Fantasy III

I was not really a hardcore RPG’er either

9

Super Mario Bros. 3

Endless nights playing this one (love you Mario – like a brother)

Ms. Pac-Man

One time Ms. Pac-Man champ at Holiday Lanes on East Main

11

World of Warcraft

Not ready to shill out the monthly payments for this, plus not much of a quester

12

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

One of the greatest sequels of all time!

13

Super Mario 64

A great introduction into 3D gaming

14

COD: Modern Warfare

Haven’t had the pleasure, but MW2 will becoming into the household soon

Last week it was ESA and Rosetta. This week, NASA had to go one up on the Europeans.

Waaaaay back in 2006, Cassini was able to image geysers shooting off of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Since that discovery, the Cassini team has been able to swing the orbiting robot into a few really close passes to the moon.

Earlier this week, I pointed to a photo over on the Planetary Society blog that the Rosetta team captured as it approached the Earth-Moon system. Now that the robot is getting closer, it turned it’s eye-camera towards home:

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know I am a big fan of NASA. But, as much as we Americans like to be #1 and want everything to always be about us, there are other space agencies in the world. While not as blessed with a budget as large as NASA’s (and that’s pitifully small if you ask me), the Europeans, Russians, Japanese, Chinese, Indians, and a whole host of others nations are working towards building a space-based society.

The Europeans are excellent makers of robotic explorers. One of their “long term” missions, Rosetta, is nearing a key point in its travels. On its way out to its rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 (where it will go on orbit and release a lander!), Rosetta will make a swing by of Mars once and Earth three times! The third and final swing-by of home is set for this month. Emily Lakdawalla over at the Planetary Society blog, highlights a great picture of a crescent moon taken from Rosetta as it approaches our Earth-Moon system.

Rosetta on final approach to the Moon

I feel so lucky to be alive at a time when space science is going through such a boon. I predict that it is going to be a great 10 – 20 years!

This is a great image and hits on all of the points the duo laid out as requirements. I’d heard both good and bad things about logo contests. If I ever started a company, I would probably go the same route. But having a famous name to associate with it probably helps to bring out the pro designers.

There’s almost nothing worse than having to get some real work done when a great show is on the tube. Last night I watched the first episode of V (re-imagined) while trying to build a dimensional modeling tutorial. My initial thoughts were Wow! I loved the opening scenes and the setup.

The show did a great job of laying out the main characters, their issues, and the initial path along the V road. Elizabeth Mitchell was great! I thought she was good in Lost and she’s the perfect fit for this show.

The graphics (which get ever so cheaper to produce) were equally nice. A lot of the CG in TV shows today rival what was done in movies just 5 or 6 years ago.

And what I did not like. Too much, too fast. Yes, this is a re-imagining. But, there were just too many reveals in the first episode. Morris is Visitor. So is Elizabeth’s partner. The Visitor’s are really evil. They could have spread this out over a couple of episodes.

We’ll see how things go over the next few weeks. Hopefully, this can turn into a long running show. I miss BSG 😦